The question is in the title. An Enhanced Life Estate Deed transfers title to property to another person or persons upon the death of the title holder, without having to go through probate. The Enhanced Life Estate Deed (‘Lady Bird Deed’) allows the title holder more flexibility than a traditional Life Estate Deed.
Where can I get a form? Preferably without having to pay for it? (I suspect there are public domain forms out there.) I’m not having a great deal of luck looking online. (My Google Fu is not mighty today.)
Depends on your jurisdiction. Probate and property law vary quite substantially between states. Lady Bird deeds are not recognized in many. Also, the majority of your stuff will still need to go through probate anyway.
ETA: Estate law isn’t the sort of thing I would be comfortable handling myself, as a layman. Even as a lawyer I don’t plan to handle my own estate.
RNATB is correct. It’s dependent on jurisdiction. Look for “Transfer on Death" forms or procedures. My principal state enacted TOD just a few years ago, and I love it. It’s a great planning tool.
Washington enacted HB 1117 last year, which allows for transfer on death. I don’t see why it should be difficult. I should be able to write on a piece of paper ‘Oi! I says [name] gets me stuff when I croak. Says me, [signature]’ and sign it in front of a notary.
By definition, a will goes through probate. The OP is asking how ownership of a home (I’m guessing) can skip probate and go straight to his kids or whoever. Johnny, are you married?
One difference is that a will doesn’t have to be signed in front of an notary. So in once sense Johnny L.A. is looking for a more complex way of acheiving what a will can acheive.
But the other difference is that, as already pointed out, a will has to go through probate. This has the result - which can be either an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on the circs - that there will be an executor whose job it is to see that the will is carried out. If you just do a transfer on death, then it’s up to the transferree to do whatever has to be done to make the transfer effective - registration at the land registry or other action necessary to establish title, dealing with back taxes, dealing with tenants in occupation, whatever. This may suit everyone if the transferree is a competent adult, but in other circumstances it might not be ideal.
Just put her name on it. When you’re gone, it just becomes hers. No fuss, no muss, NOT part of the estate. Simply reverts to full ownership for the surviving partner. What could be easier?
Did you buy the house together? If you and your spouse hold the property as joint tenants, she will already inherit your share by right of survivorship without probate.
ETA: elbows, many jurisdictions do not allow modification of a deed in the manner you describe. You can add another party as a tenant in common, but not as a joint tenant. The OP may have to deed the property to a “strawman” and back to himself and his wife to do that. Again, he’ll need to consult an attorney licensed in Washington.
More importantly, adding his spouse as a joint tenant means she owns half the house (“an undivided one half interest”) now. That can have some pretty substantial implications in the event of divorce and so on.
Are there restrictive rules about who can be the executor - maybe not a beneficiary for example, and at what point does an estate have to go through probate? In the UK "You don’t normally need a grant of representation (probate) if the estate either: passes to the surviving spouse/civil partner because it was held in joint names, eg a savings account - or - doesn’t include land, property or shares
Depends on the jurisdiction. There will nearly always be some sort of probate estate - personal effects like clothes, for example. However, if the value of the estate is less than a certain amount most US states allow “summary administration” which basically means the heirs file a form and mostly skip the probate process.
May I suggest a living trust instead? You can find a book (you will probably have to pay for the book) to tell you how to do it. A living trust assigns your assets (as many as you want) to the trust and yourself as the trustee while you are alive (so that you still have complete control over your assets). The trust document assigns both the surviving trustee for when you die, and what they are supposed to do with the trust assets. Any assets not in the trust would have to go through probate*. The trust document can, of course, be changed at any time while you are alive, if you want to change the disbursements.
When you die, the surviving trustee needs to set up the Johnny L.A. Living Trust with the feds and get a fed ID number (like a SS number but the form of the number is like what corporations get), which can be done with a phone call to the IRS, and file taxes for the trust when and if appropriate. This step may not be necessary if all the assets of the trust are disbursed within the year and the trust has no income.
*In Oregon, where my father did this, the remaining assets were few enough (under $50K I think) that the estate was classed as “small” and did not have to go through probate, just a filing of the will and that was it.
If you want it done right, hire a lawyer. If you don’t mind risking screwing it up horribly, feel free to attempt it yourself with or without some dubious form obtained from whatever source. Land is usually worth many thousands of dollars. A deed prepared by a lawyer would probably cost a few hundred. How much risk are you prepared to accept to save a fraction of the land’s value trying to cut corners?
We’re doing it through joint tenancy (Colorado). I was actually at the court clerks office when a lady came in. Mom had died but the house was in joint tenancy with her. Boom! No probate and house is hers.
IANAL (though I have some experience in this area), but I think the above is situational - and I welcome correction.
95% of my wealth is in IRAs, a 401k, various bank and investment accounts, and my house. All of the retirement, bank, and investment accounts list the Mrs. as either a JT or as a PoD/beneficiary. The Mrs. is on the house deed (we bought it together).
The only things I see going through probate are some family heirlooms and hobby equipment (photography gear, guns). In dollar terms, a very small fraction of my total worth.
I would think many (not all, of course) people would have similar arrangements, no?
Yes, I meant “stuff” as in physical possessions. Having said that, financial instruments may not escape probate even if they are directly deeded to someone else; for example, if you disinherited your wife she can have the probate court award her a statutory percentage.
